


his footsteps sounded like water

by Fix



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Ominous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29779842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fix/pseuds/Fix
Summary: prompt: http://deepwaterwritingprompts.tumblr.com/post/176666070489/deep-water-prompt-1034“No no no no no no no no no! This can’t be happening!” she slammed her hand against the steering wheel in frustration and huffing out an angry sigh. She looked at her phone screen again, hoping that she’d magically be greeted with a different screen from the last twelve times she’d checked.The blinking red outline of a battery glowed back at her mockingly.





	his footsteps sounded like water

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/maybe-i-will-create

“No no no no no no no no no! This can’t be happening!” she slammed her hand against the steering wheel in frustration and huffing out an angry sigh. She looked at her phone screen again, hoping that she’d magically be greeted with a different screen from the last twelve times she’d checked.

The blinking red outline of a battery glowed back at her mockingly.

She took stock of the situation. At least she’d managed to get her car onto the shoulder before it had completely died on her. Looking to the right, she was greeted by the sight of the undeveloped lot along the side of the freeway. On the left there were some grassy hills, with the lake visible behind them. She knew they were just stories, but the tales about what went on near Lake Empty after nightfall gave her the absolute fucking creeps.

She felt like crying. Her brother had borrowed the car charger for some road trip he was on with a bunch of his friends, so there was no way for her to charge her phone. She did not know the first thing about even trying to fix a car, and she couldn’t call anyone to come get her or roadside assistance, so she’d have to just wait here on the side of the freeway until someone came by. Her car was, for some completely unknown reason, refusing to move. And she couldn’t see or hear anyone coming that she might be able to wave down. Oh, and if she didn’t get at least three mile markers away from the lake, she was going to get viciously killed by a lake monster.

Well, not an _actual_ monster. That’d be crazy.

But still.

“Of flippin’ course I just _have_ to break down in the _one_ fucking HAUNTED place… ” she hissed angrily to no one in particular. She hit the steering wheel again and screamed for good measure. At least this was the only freeway around. Anyone trying to leave or enter the counties around would have to pass by her. Then she could flag someone down and hopefully get the heck away from the fucking lake before dark. At this point, she didn’t even care if she had to leave her car broken down here unguarded. She just wanted _away._

Two hours and seventeen minutes later no one had come. She checked her watch and actually started to cry.

Twenty four minutes after that she was talking to herself. “Ok, Layla. You’re not ten anymore. This is not ghost story time at the fifth grade overnight fieldtrip. There’s no such thing as monsters. You’re not gonna get eaten by a monster tonight.

“Even if no one comes today, someone will come tomorrow. Everything’s going to be fine. Sure, you’ll be late to the convention but you won’t get fired for it! Everybody has car trouble, perfectly understandable!”

She groaned to herself. “I am truly, and royally, screwed. Shit.”

Three hours and forty four minutes later, she could see the sun was starting to set. She was on the verge of losing all hope when she heard what sounded like another car coming. Completely desperate, she threw open the door and bolted down the road in the direction she’d heard the noise.

She didn’t see a car, but what she did see made her try to turn around and run in the other direction so quickly she tripped over her own foot and fell hard onto the pavement.

The sharp twinge she’d felt in her ankle could not have been good.

She tried to stand up before immediately crumpling, crying out in pain.

She could feel the man she’d seen watching her. She turned around to face him. “Please, don’t hurt me,” she begged him, using her hands and good foot to push herself backwards as she spoke. 

His skin was sickly blue. His long hair and beard didn’t look like hair at all, but more like a dense clump of that small, leafy seaweed that washes up on shore a lot.

“Please,” she whimpered, “Please don’t hurt me.”

He took a step towards her. His footsteps didn’t sound like footsteps. They sounded like drops of water. He reached his hand out and his fingers rippled like the edge of the lake. She screamed.

\---

Three days later Agent Gosdra sat down at his desk. He pulled a copy of the paper off the stack and dropped it onto his desk. The headline glared up at him in big, bold letters.

Layla Mayfield, 23, had gone missing by Lake Empty, presumed dead.

They’d found her car, but that’s all they would find.

He picked up his coffee and took a sip. They would never find a body. Never any forensic evidence. Never any suspects. No witnesses.

Just like always.

\---


End file.
